Motor-driven agricultural machine



entre OLOF FRNKMAN,

or aretino,

tun

s'afnnnn.

MOTOR-DRVEN AGRCULTURAL LYACHINE.

Application filed october 25, 1919.

To f/ZZ u; 710my it muy concern Be it lznoivn that l, @Lor lnANjurvraN, estate ouvrier, a citizen of the Kingdom ot Sweden, and residing at Malmo, Sweden, have invented a neuT nad useful improvement in Moto-r-lriven Ag 'icultural Machinos; and if do hereby declare the tollovvingl to be a. t'ull, clear, and e-Xact description of the sanxe.

The agricultural machines of recent design are usually driven by means of motors so as to raise their Working capacity, While their Weight beingaccordingly increased, calls for an enlarged Width of the driving and supporting Wheel rims. lVhen using such broader Wheels the inanagingl of the machine is however more diiiicult and a large ground surface is required for turning-s. it is true that the managing is facili 'tated it the vwheel rims are convex, but as the Wheels are used not only ior supporting but also tor drivinglthe machine such `Wheels easily diey doivn in the ground and therefore this construct-ion cannot be used.

The present invention has 'for its object to facilitate the managing and steering ot the machine when using; common cylindrical wheels and the main feature thereof is that the wheel accordingto its smaller or greater .vidth is divided in a smaller or greater number ot parts in planes perpendicular to the axle. When a number o' separate cylindrical Wheels are placed side by side, they are in'ovided with clutches by means of which they may be connected to a single unit, and by disconnecting the clutches the wheels are released :from each other and act separately.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying' drawings wherein Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section parallel to the shaft. F 2 shoivs a section on the line a-ZJ and Fig. 3 another section on the line c-CZ both lines in Fig. 1.

,ff-recordingl to Fig. 1 the whole Wheel consists ot :t'our parts or narrower wheels provided With rims 1, 2, 3 and t and hubs 5, 6, i' and 8. rlhese narrower Wheels or Wheel parts are mounted on a common shaft 9 in such a vvay that all the rims together practically Yformed a. whole cylinder. The shat't 9 is intended to be driven from the motor by mans of a suitable gear and one of the outer Wheel parts, e'. c. 1, is fixed to the shaft by means of key l() or equivalent means, so that said Wheel part is always rotating;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June Serial No.

urith the shait. The side ot the hub 5 tacing the adjacent hub G is formed with a ixed clutch 11, and Within a central bore in the hub G a corresponding disengaging' clutch 12 1s slidably mounted, which latter is prevented from rotatilm Within the huh 6 in a suit-- able manner, z'. e., by means of keys 13 extending in longitudinal grooves in said hub in such a, Way that tno clutch l2 is not prevented from sliding; longitudinally. The side of the hub 6 facing the hub 7 is formed in the same manner with a clutch member 14. lfvvithin the latter hub is mounted a slidable clutch member 15, and the hubs 7, 8 are provided with similar clutch members ie, rr.

The shaft 9 is provided with a number of longitudinal grooves, z'. c. tivo grooves pla( ed diametrically opposite each other, in which are slidably mounted bars 18 provided with shoulders 19 extendinginto annular grooves 2O formed in the disengageable clutch members, and thus said clutch members may be coupled to the clutch members iixed to the Wheel parts by sliding the bars. Because ot the annular grooves 2O the slidable clutch members are not pre vented from rotating upon the axle 9 When the clutches are disengaged. For sliding the bars 18 and the movable clutch members said bars are connected with a double flanged disk 21 made to slide on the shaft, and in order to prevent the sliding' of the Wheel parts a set collar 22 or the like is fixed to the sha tt (Fig. 1).

lt will be understood that the particulars described above are to be considered only as suitable means for carrying out the invention. in practice and that said means Without departing` from the invention may be changed for equivalents.

rlhe Wheel unit may consist of three or any other odd number of Wheel parts, or it may have an even number oi .vheel parts, in either case one ot the center wheel parts may be fixed to the shaft as desired.

in the devices described `above all of the Wheel parts are coupled together when the agricultural machine is performing; its ivorh and the motor then has the lgreatest driving effect upon the machine. `When the machine is to be turned around the necessary poiver may obviously be diminished because the Working* pa rts are usually stopped and then all ot the wheel parts are disengaged from the driving gear With the exception of a single one, which is suflicient for driving the machine forward during the turning. During all circumstances the sup porting capacity of the wheel unit remains constant and is equal to the sum of the supporting capacities of all the parts therein.

ln order to diminish the friction between the hubs when the wheel parts are rotating relatively to each other rollers 32 or the like are arranged as shown in Figs. l and 2.

Having now described my invention and the manner in which the same is to be performed I declare that what claim is :w-

l. A motor-driven agricultural machine including aV shaft, a series of wheels adjacently mounted thereon, one of said wheels being mounted to rotate with the shaft, the remaining wheels being rotatably mounted on said shaft, the Wheels having hubs and coperable means carried thereby, whereby motion imparted to the shaft and fixed wheel may be applied to the rotatable wheels by operating` the coperable means.

2. A motor-driven agricultural machine including a shaft, supporting and driving wheels mounted thereon, one of said wheels being keyed to the shaft, the remaining wheels being rotatable thereon, the wheels having hubs formed with clutch members on one face the opposite faces of all but the first mentioned hub being formed with a recess, clutch members slidably mounted therein, and adapted to coact with the first mentioned clutch members and means for operating the second-mentioned clutch members, whereby motion transmitted to the shaft and first Vmentioned wheel may be transmitted to the remaining wheels by operating the clutch members to coact.

3. A driving and supporting mechanism including a shaft, wheels mounted on said shaft, one of the wheels being fixed thereon, the remaining wheels being rotatable on the shaft, the wheels having hubs, clutch members carried by the hubs around the shaft and means carried by the shaft for operating the clutch members, whereby motion i1nparted to the shaft and fixed wheel may be transmitted to the remaining wheels by operating the clutch members of each wheel to engage with the clutch members of the other wheels and the fixed wheel.

el.. A supporting and driving device comprising a shaft, a plurality of wheels mounted thereon, one of said wheels being keyed to the shaft, the remaining wheels being rotatably mounted thereon, part of the wheels having one face of their hubs formed with clutch teeth, the opposite faces of the hubs having recesses therein, clutch members slidably mounted in the recesses, the shaft being' formed with longitudinal grooves, clutch operating members slidably mounted in the grooves, having fingers adapted to engage the second-mentioned clutch members and rollers mounted in one face of each hub and projecting beyond the hub, for engagement with the adjacent hub, whereby the clutch operating members may be moved to engage the clutch members for transmitting motion from the fixed wheel to the rotatable wheels.

ln testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

OLOF FRANKMAN.

lVitnesses T. G. BRANZELL, GUNi-IILD PnTnRssoN. 

